How might I display a PDF in VA that is stored as binary data?

[semone]

I have a table with some thousands of records.  Each record has a PDF that is stored as binary data.  Is there a native way to display these PDF's in VA?  I am thinking of a model in which I would have a Table showing TITLE, TYPE, etc. and then a column with the file itself available for selecting and opening.

[jakarman]

SAS-VA is running Linux (A type of many Unix OS).

To view a pdf you need to be able to download that to your device that has a pdf reader installed.  

[Quentin]

Hi,

I haven't played with VA.  In the stored process web app, if you have a pdf file on the server, you can stream it back to a user's browser by using a data _null_ step that writes to _webout.  Then the browser will pop up a file download box:

Perhaps something like that could be done in VA?

--Q.

[Nascif_SAS]

VA doesn't support binary files like PDFs natively, but it can create data-driven URLs that you can leverage to display your PDFs.

I would keep the PDF files in a separate table, accessible by a stored process - or even as static files in a directory visible to your web browser.

Then on the table you will load in VA, instead of the PDF content store a corresponding unique name.

You can then use that unique name to create data-driven links in your report, that when clicked by the user will call the stored process that retrieves the file (as described by @Quentin) or directly download them as a static file.

[Quentin]

Thanks for jumping in    Glad to hear my time learning stored processes won't have been wasted if we some day get a VA setup.  : )

[Nascif_SAS]

Not at all @Quentin. We are looking for ways to leverage stored processes even more in VA. Suggestions and ideas are welcome!

[semone]

Thanks for the pointers folks.  I'll get back if I have anything else, but I think I'm certainly at a point where I can make some trouble getting started.